Means to position and secure current limiting fuses in a housing



W. H. EDMUNDS MEANS T0 POSITION AND SECURE CURRENT Sept. 22, 1959 2,905,791

LIMITING FUSES IN A HOUSING 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 3, 1956 I INVENTOR. WILLIAM HAROLD EDMUNDS ATTORNEYS Sept. 22, 1959 w. H. EDMUNDS MEANS TO POSITION AND SECURE CURRENT LIMITING FUSES IN A HOUSING 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 3, 1956 INVENTOR. WILLIAM HAROLD EDMUNDS ATTORNEYS Sept. 22. 1959 w. H. EDMUNDS MEANS TO POSITION AND SECURE CURRENT LIMITING FUSES IN A HOUSING Filed May s, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 V //II/A res-5 INVENTOR. WILLIAM HAROLD EDMU DS ATTO RNEYS r 2,905,791 Patented sep 22, 1959 -MEANS TO POSITION AND SECURE CURRENT LIlVIITING FUSES IN A HOUSING William Harold Edmnnds, Havertown, Pa., assignor to I-T-E Circuit Breaker Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application May 3, 1956, Serial No. 582,552

8 Claims. (Cl. 200-133) My invention relates to a housing means for positioning and securing current limiting fuses operating in cooperation with circuit breakers as is described in copending applications Serial No. 461,378 filed October 11, 1954, by W. H. Edmunds, entitled, Circuit Breaker Having Electrical and Mechanical Coordination With a Current Limiting Device, and Serial No. 472,969, filed December 3, 1954, by W. H. Edmunds, entitled Removable and Replaceable Current Limiter Housing for Circuit Breakers, both of which are assigned to the assignee of the instant application.

When current limiting fuses of the above-described type are held within a first housing and this first housing is made to be securable to a second housing containing a circuit breaker as is described in my copending application Serial No. 472,969, it is essential that these current limiting fuses be properly secured in all directions so that their disconnect contacts will properly mate with their cooperating disconnect contacts of the circuit breaker housing and it is also essential that they be securely maintained in their housing so as to withstand shocks due to vibration and shocks due to fault conditions operating the fuses. Furthermore, it is highly desirable that the current limting fuses be so secured in their housing as to be readily accessible to replacement and maintenance.

A primary object of my invention is to provide a housing construction for housing current limiting fuses which automatically positions and secures the current limiting fuses so that their disconnect contacts will properly mate with cooperating disconnect contacts of a circuit breaker housing.

Another object of my invention is to provide a current limiting fuse housing in which the current limiting fuses therein are rigidly secured against shocks due to vibration or fault conditions.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a housing for current limiting fuses wherein the current limiting fuses are properly held in place within the housing and are readily accessible for easy removal and replacement.

These and other objects of my invention will become apparent from the following description when taken in connection with the drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows an exploded perspective view of a current limiting fuse housing wherein its disconnect contacts are positioned to be connected to the disconnect contacts of a circuit breaker housing.

Figure 2 shows an exploded perspective view of the housing construction of my invention.

Figure 3 is a side cross sectional view of the housing of Figure 2, taken in the direction of arrows 3--3 of Figure 4.

Figure 4 is a bottom view of the current limiting fuse housing of Figure 1, taken in the direction of arrows 4-4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a view of Figure 4 taken across the line 55, of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a view taken across line 66 of Figure 4.

Referring now to Figure 1, it is seen that a circuit breaker housing 20 which may be of the type shown in my US. Patent No. 2,574,093 issued November 6, 1951, entitled, Adjustable Trip, and assigned to the assignee of the instant application, is provided with a pair of disconnect contacts for each of three phases. By way of example, the contacts 21 and 22, which may be of the tulip clip type described in copending application Serial No. 536,586 filed by August Bodenschatz on September 26, 1955, entitled Adaption of Blister Type Disconnect Means, and assigned to the assignee of the instant application, are associated with a first phase, and contacts 23 and 24 may be associated with a second phase, and still another pair of contacts are associated with the third phase.

The housing 25 which is the subject of my invention and is further shown in Figure 2, is then provided, which housing contains current limiting fuses to be placed in series with each of the circuit breaker phases. Each of the fuses contained within the housing 25 is provided with disconnect contacts such as contacts 26 and 27 for the fuses 28 and contacts 29 and 30 for the contacts of the second phase. Clearly the disconnect contacts 29 and 30 of the current limiting fuse of the second phase will cooperate with contacts 23 and 24 of the circuit breaker housed in housing 20 and the corresponding contacts of the other phases will cooperate in the same manner.

As will be shown more fully hereinafter, screws or fastening means 31 and 32 pass through openings 33 and 34 of the current limiting fuse housing 25 to engage cooperating openings 35 and 36 respectively of the circuit breaker of Figure 1 so as to rigidly maintain the fuse housing 25 to the circuit breaker housing 20.

If desired, screws 31 and 32 may be of the capture type, so as to prevent loss thereof.

So as to provide cooperation between the current limiting fuses and the circuit breaker, a rod 37 is provided having an extension 37a thereon which cooperates with trip means 38 of circuit breaker housing 20. As may best be seen in Figure 2, and as is set forth in copending application Serial No. 461,378, the current limiting fuses 28, 39 and 40 are each positioned with respect to extensions 41, 42 and 43 of the bar 37 so as to impart clockwise rotation of the bar against the bias spring 44 upon operation of the fuse. That is to say, upon operation of any of the fuses, an operating pin is ejected by the fuse as set forth in copending application Serial No. 461,378, which will drive one of the extensions 41, 42 or 43 in a clockwise direction. Hence extension 3711 is moved out of engagement with trip means 38 to cause subsequent operation of the circuit breaker 20.

The essence of my novel invention is to position and secure each of the current limiting fuses and their disconnect contacts within the housing 25 in a predetermined manner. As may be seen in Figure 2, I provide a retaining plate 45 which plate has three cut-away sections 46, 47 and 48. Retaining plate 45 is then further constructed to have two protruding portions 49 and 50 which protruding portions have openings 51, 52, and 53, 54, respectively.

The disconnect contacts 26, 29 and are electrically connected to one end of the current limiting fuses 28, 39 and 40 respectively, by the L-shaped conductors 56, 57 and 58 respectively. These L-shaped conductors are then provided with portions 59, 60 and 61 extending beyond the disconnect members 26, 29 and 55. It may now be seen that the portions 59, 60 and 61 of the fuse terminals 56, 57 and 58 are so constructed as to cooperate with the three cut-away sections 46, 47 and 48 re- 3 spectively, of the retaining :plate 45 when the unit is assembled.

This feature may be seen more specifically with respect to Figure 4 where it is seen that the portion 59 extends within cut-away section '46, portion 69 .extends within cut-away section .47, and'portion 61.extends within cut-away section 48.

Furthermore, it is seen inconjunction with Figures 2 and 4.tl1at theprotrusions 49 and 50 extend in such a manner as to providea positioning barrier for each of the fuses 28, 39 and 40. Hence horizontal and angular positioning of the fuses and their associated disconnect contacts is provided by the above noted means, that is, by'the engagement betweenthe protrusions of the current limiting fuse terminals and the cut-away portions of the retaining plate 45 as well as the positioning of protrusions 39 and 40.

The screws or fastening means 62 and 63 may, as seen 'most clearly in conjunction with Figure 3, .then be inserted through the openings 52 and 54 of the retaining plate 45 and secured to the top of the housing 25 so "as to rigidly secure the current limiting fuses in their position so as to be resistant to .both vibrational shock and shocks due to interruption of the fuse.

If desired, screws 62 and 63 may be of the captured type so as to prevent loss thereof.

The interior of the housing 25 of Figure 2 may be more specifically described in conjunction with Figures and 6, which are cross-sectional views through this housing and more-clearly describe the manner in which vertical and axial positioning .of the current limiting fuses 28, 39 and 40 and their associated disconnect contacts is provided.

Referring now to each of Figures Sand 6, the surfaces 66, 67 and 68 of Figure 6 provide the vertical positioning means for a first end of the current limiting fuses 40, -39 and 28 respectively, whereas surfaces 69, 70 and 71 of Figure 5 provide the vertical positioning for the other end of fuses 40, 39 and 28 respectively.

Furthermore, the housing 25 is provided with ribs of molded sections such as molded sections 72 and 73 of Figure 3, which serve to position the current limiting rent limiting fuses.

It may now be seen that my novel construction permits easy replacement of fuses within the fuse housing. For in the event that a fuse need be replaced, all that would be required is to loosen the screws 62 and 63 which would then permit the retaining plate 45 to be withdrawn and to thereafter allow replacement of the faulty element. After inserting a new element for the faulty element, one need only place the retaining plate 45 in position, whereby the current limiting fuses for each phase Will be automatically positioned and secured to have their disconnect terminals such as the terminals 26, 29 and 55 correctly positioned for subsequent cooperation -with the terminals of a circuit breaker housing.

As may be further seen in Figure 3, the screws 31 and 32 and their associated lock washers 64 and 65 provide the means whereby the complete current limiting fuse assembly may be secured to a cooperating circuit breaker housing assembly.

It is to be realized that a single housing construction made in accordance with my novel invention can serve to position fuses of a diameter smaller than some predetermined diameter for which the molding is constructed by merely providing a collar around the smaller .current limiting fuses so as to make the over-all diameter the same as that for which the housing is designed.

Although I have described preferred embodiments of my invention, many variations and modifications will now become apparent to those skilled in the art and 'I prefer .to be limited, therefore, not by the specific disclosure herein, but only by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A housing for positioning and securing a plurality of current limiting fuses; each of said current limiting fuses having disconnect contacts to be positioned in a predetermined manner, each of said disconnect contacts having aprotruding portion; said housing having aninterior portion shaped to cooperate with the contour of at least a portion of each of said current limiting-fuses to therebyposition said current limiting fuses in-anaxial and a vertical direction; a retaining plate, said retaining plate having depressions therein for cooperating with the protruding portion of each of said disconnect contacts; said retaining plate being constructed to be fastened to said housing to maintain said portions of said fuses in contact with said cooperating interior portion of said housing; the engagement of .said disconnect contact protrusion and said retaining plate depressions being eifective to horizontally and angularly position said current limiting fuses.

.2. .A housing for positioning and securing a plurality of current limiting fuses; each of said current limiting fuses having disconnect contacts to be positioned in a predetermined manner, eachof said disconnect contacts having a protruding portion; said housing having an .interior portion shaped to cooperate with the contour of at least a portion of each of said current limiting fuses to thereby position said current limiting fuse disconnect contacts in a vertical direction; a retaining plate; said retaining plate having depressions therein for cooperating with .the;pr0- truding portion of each of said disconnect contacts; said retaining plate being constructed to be fastened to said housingto maintain said portions of said fuses inconta'ct with said cooperating interior portion of said housing; theengagament of said disconnect contact protrusion and said retaining plate depressions being effective to horizontally position said current limiting fuse disconnectgcontacts.

3. A housing for positioning and securing a plurality of current limiting fuses; each of said current limiting fuses having disconnect contacts to be positioned in a ,said retaining plate being constructed to be fastened to said housing to maintain said portions of said fuses in contact with said cooperating interior portion of said housing; the engagement of said disconnect contact aprotrusions and said retaining plate depressions being effective to horizontally and angularly position said current limiting fuses; said retaining plate being provided with protrusions extending between each of said ourrentl-imiting fuses; said protrusion being provided with an opening therethrough; fastening means; said fastening means extending through said opening in said protrusion to fasten said retaining plate to said housing to thereby rigidlysecure said fuses positioned between said retaining plate and said housing. p 4. A housing for positioning and securing a plurality of current limiting fuses; each of said current limiting fuses having disconnect contacts to be positioned in a predetermined manner, each of said disconnect contacts having a protruding portion; said housing having an interior portion shaped to cooperate with the contour of at least a portion of each of said current limiting fuses to thereby position said current limiting fuse disconnect contacts in a vertical direction; a retaining plate; said retaining plate having depressions therein for pooperating with the protruding portion of each of said disconnect contacts; said retaining plate being constructed to be fastened to said housing to maintain said portions of said fuses in contact with said cooperating interior portion of said housing; the engagement of said disconnect contact protrusion and said retaining plate depressions being effective to horizontally position said current limiting fuse disconnect contacts; said retaining plate being provided with protrusions extending between each of said current limiting fuses; said protrusion being provided with an opening therethrough; fastening means; said fastening means extending through said opening in said protrusion to fasten said retaining plate to said housing to thereby rigidly secure said fuses positioned between said retaining plate and said housing; and a second opening in said protrusion; a second fastening means connected to said housing being extended through said second opening and adapted to fasten said housing to a mounting surface.

5. A housing for positioning and securing a plurality of current limiting fuses; each of said current limiting fuses having disconnect contacts to be positioned in a predetermined manner, each of said disconnect contacts having a protruding portion; said housing having an interior portion shaped to cooperate with the contour of at least a portion of each of said current limiting fuses to thereby position said current limiting fuses in an axial and first direction; a retaining means, said retaining means having a plurality of recesses therein for receiving and cooperating with the protruding portion of each of said disconnect contacts; said retaining means being constructed to be fastened to said housing to maintain said current limiting fuses within said cooperating interior portion of said housing; the engagement of said disconnect contact protrusions and said retaining means recesses being effective to position said current limiting fuses in both an angular position and in a second direction.

6. A housing for positioning and securing a plurality of current limiting fuses, each of said current limiting fuses having disconnect contacts to be positioned in a predetermined mamier, each of said contacts having a mating portion; said housing having an interior portion shaped to cooperate with the contour of at least a portion of each of said current limiting fuses to thereby position said current limiting fuse disconnect contacts in a second direction; a retaining means; said retaining means having mating portions therein for cooperating with the mating portion of each of said disconnect contacts; said retaining means being constructed to be fastened to said housing to maintain said portions of said current limiting fuses within said cooperating interior portion of said housing; the engagement between said disconnect contact mating portions and said retaining means mating portions being effective to position said current limiting fuse disconnect contacts in a first direction.

7. A housing for positioning and securing a plurality of current limiting fuses; each of said current limiting fuses having disconnect contacts to be positioned in a predetermined manner, each of said disconnect contacts having a mating portion; said housing having an interior portion shaped to cooperate with the contour of at least a portion of each of said current limiting fuses to thereby position said current limiting fuses in both an axial and a first direction; a retaining means; said retaining means having mating portions therein for cooperating with the mating portion of each of said disconnect contacts; said housing having dividing means to thereby form separate compartments for receiving said current limiting fuses; recesses being provided in said dividing means to receive said retaining means to thereby position said retaining means within the axial direction of said current limiting fuses; said retaining means being constructed to be fastened within said recesses of said dividing means of said housing to maintain said portions of said current limiting fuses within said cooperating interior portion of said housing; the engagement of said disconnect contact mating portions of said retaining means mating portions being effective to position said current limiting fuses in both an angular position and a second direction; said retaining means being provided with at least two openings therethrough; fastening means; said fastening means extending through said openings in said retaining means and engaging said housing to thereby rigidly secure said current limiting fuses positioned between said retaining means and said housing.

8. A housing for positioning and securing a plurality of current limiting fuses; each of said current limiting fuses having disconnect contacts to be positioned in a predetermined manner, each of said disconnect contacts having a mating portion; said housing having an interior portion shaped to cooperate with the contour of at least a portion of said current limiting fuses to thereby position said current limiting fuse disconnect contacts in a first direction; a retaining means; said retaining means having mating portions therein for cooperating with the mating portions of each of said disconnect contacts; said retaining means being constructed to be fastened to said housing to maintain said portions of said current limiting fuses against said cooperating interior portion of said housing; the engagement of said disconnect contact mating portions with said retaining means mating portions being effective to position said current limiting fuses disconnect contacts in a second direction; said housing being provided with dividing means for separating said plurality of current limiting fuses; said dividing means being provided with openings therein; sad retaining means being positioned within said openings of said dividing means of said housing to thereby position said retaining means in the axial direction of said current limiting fuses; fastening means; said fastening means extending through an opening in said retaining means of said housing to thereby rigidly secure said current limiting fuses to be positioned between said retaining means and said housing; a second fastening means connected to said housing extending through said dividing means and adapted to fasten said housing to a mounting surface.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 802,999 Lawrence Oct. 31, 1905 1,172,282 Handley Feb. 22, 1916 1,892,567 Craddock Dec. 27, 1932 1,990,176 Fried Feb. 5, 1935 2,049,309 Novak July 28, 1936 2,265,233 Jackson ct al Dec. 9, 1941 2,668,885 Gerlat Feb. 9, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 508,419 Great Britain June 30, 1939 

